


Burning Bridges: an NCT 127 Story

by Snowman37744



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24892258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowman37744/pseuds/Snowman37744
Summary: Nineteen-year-old Maisilie "Maisie" Kim has had enough of her rough city life in New York with her not-so-loving parents. Unbeknownst to them, she sets off for Seoul to live with her cousin, a trainee at SM Entertainment. Or at least, that's what she thinks, until Maisie is pulled into the same life and meets ten crazy, chaotic boys.





	1. Chapter 1

"Maisilie, get down here this instant! We need someone to cook dinner!"

Maisie sighed and went downstairs to start preparing dinner, knowing what followed. If she messed up dinner somehow, they'd yell at her until they lost their voices and then yell some more. If she made it perfectly, they'd find a reason to yell at her anyway.

That was her life in a nutshell. Her parents never wanted a child, and yet, here she was. At the time, they believed in a religion that forbade abortion, and her aunt and uncle on her mother's side were what kept her from being put up for adoption. They, along with her cousin Ari, were the only ones who really cared for her, and made her life bearable for eighteen years. After her eighteenth birthday, however, her aunt fell ill, and after she passed away, her uncle and Ari moved to Seoul, and that was the last time Maisie had seen either of them.

"Dinner better be almost done! We're starving!"

Finally finishing dinner, Maisie set the bowl of pasta onto the table. She stopped hoping a long time ago that they wouldn't yell at her about dinner, but instead she hoped they wouldn't yell as much.

"It's too hot", her mother complained. Maisie winced, knowing full well what was coming.

Sure enough, her father started lecturing her. "Did you hear that?! It's too hot! Why can't you do anything right in this household?! Make dinner, that's all we asked, and yet, you try to poison us?"

Maisie simply sighed. She was used to this kind of talk from them. "No, I simply cooked dinner like you asked me to. It's pasta fresh from the pot, of course it's going to be hot"

"Are you talking back to me? We didn't raise a daughter to talk back to her parents!", her father yelled. "Now go cool down the pasta!"

"I can't instantly cool down the pasta. I'd have to put it in the fridge, and that would take too long."

"JUST COOL THE GODDAMN PASTA!"

Maisie shrugged. "Alright."

As she was leaving, her father muttered, "You'd think that she'd learned to keep her mouth shut by now." As much as it hurt, Maisie knew it was true; she _really_ needed to learn when to shut up

Taking the plate of pasta, she put a few ice cubes into the plate, let it sit for a minute, then threw the ice cubes into the drain and gave the plate back to her mother.

Biting into it, she just shrugged. "Good enough", she told her.

Finally sitting down to eat, Maisie took a few bites before her parents found something else to complain about.

"What's all this black shit in my pasta?! Are you trying to poison us again Maisilie?", her father asked.

She merely glared at him. Trying to keep her composure, she replied, "No, it's ground pepper. I added it to spice the pasta up a bit with some flavor".

Just then, her mother bit into one. "It burns my tongue!", she yelled. "You are trying to poison us!"

At this point, Maisie got up to leave, but her father grabbed her wrist tightly, stopping her. "Where do you think you're going, hm?" She tried to pull her arm away, but he only gripped it tighter. "Pull that shit again, and we'll leave you in the streets. You got that?" 

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yep."

She sat back down to finish her food. Fortunately, most of dinner went by without incident, up until she finished. She went to put her plate into the sink, when she knocked a glass cup in the process, shattering it. "Shit!", she muttered, picking the pieces up, and hoping her father didn't hear her swear.

Unfortunately, he heard it. "What'd you just say? Did I just hear you say 'shit'?"

He came closer to her. "Stand up!", he told her. She stood.

"Talk shit, get hit", he said, before smacking her across the face and shoving her into the glass shards, which pierced her arms.

At this point, her mother came in. "Oh my goodness!"

At first it seemed like for once she was referring to Maisie, but then she turned to the shards. "You spilt juice and blood all over my newly cleaned floor! Clean it up, now!"

They both left her alone to clean up the mess, before finally heading into her room. She stifled a sob that was trying to make its way up as she bandaged her arms. She couldn't let her parents hear her cry. 

_**Not again.** _

She turned her tears to anger. _Are you really going to just let them treat you like this?_ , she thought to herself. _You're nineteen, you can just leave, you know._

She contemplated this. Yes, she could leave, but where would she go? She was pretty sure she barely had enough for a plane ticket, much less anything else.

As if by magic, however, her phone rang. Picking it up, a familiar voice sounded. "Maisie! You're alive! That's good, I was worried your parents did something"

"Ari?", she asked. She hadn't heard from her twenty-two-year-old cousin since she left.

"Yeah, it's me! Did you think I'd forget about you?", she asked Maisie.

"Yes, actually! It's been over a year, Ari. I've texted and called several different times, but you never answered. Excuse me for thinking that you'd forget about me."

"Shit! I am so sorry about that! My dad's been sick for some time, so I've been busy working to pay for the hospital bills"

Maisie's eyes widened. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry! Since when?"

"For two weeks now; he's getting better but he still has his not-great days. Anyways, how can I make things up to you?"

Thinking about it, Maisie threw her idea to Ari, not thinking too much of it. "Is there any way for you to get me out of this hellhole?"

She half-expected her cousin to say that it was impossible, or that she'd try, but things didn't look great. Instead, Ari told her, "I actually can. I just need the money for a ticket, I'll handle the rest".

Checking her bank account that she secretly created, Maisie saw that she had a bit more money than she thought. "I think I can handle that".

"Great! Just deposit that to me, then I'll handle everything from there." Maisie agreed, sending the money via PayPal.

"I got it! Now, go pack! Goodbye, New York, hello Seoul!"

Finally, Maisie thought to herself.

_**I'm getting out of this shitty hellhole...** _


	2. Chapter 2

_**italics is something said in Korean, normalized is said in English.** _

After an hour of talking on the phone, an hour of packing as much as she could, and two hours of waiting for her parents to go to bed, Maisie finally slipped out of the house, taping a farewell note on the door of her room before driving off to the airport. Her plane was due to depart at six a.m, which was in about six hours. Until then, she had some time to kill. A one-way ticket to Seoul turned out to be a lot cheaper than either of them thought it'd be, so she used some of the remaining money to buy food and some things to help her fall sleep on the plane in case the sleeping pills she had weren't enough.

She pretty much stayed awake for most of the six hours, having bought coffee and knowing full well she could just sleep on the plane. So when she was finally able to board the plane, the moment she reached her seat, she immediately fell asleep, not waking up until she arrived at her layover stop in L.A. Since she had about three hours before she had to catch her flight to Seoul, she decided to look around California for a bit.

The first thing she did was find a nice restaurant to eat breakfast. Breakfast was always one of her favorite meals of the day, not because it started your day correctly; nothing she does makes her days right anyway. She loved breakfast because it was the one meal she could eat without her parents giving her shit since they weren't awake to do so.

Having ordered waffles, she dug in and ate them. While she was eating, her phone rang.

"I take it you're in California now?", Ari asked her over the phone.

"Yep. Just eating waffles right now.", Maisie replied.

" _Waffles?_ "

A new voice rang through the phone, unfamiliar to Maisie. The new voice asked, " _Who are you talking to Areum?_ " Areum? Maisie hadn't heard someone call her cousin by her Korean name in years; probably since her aunt passed.

" _Calm down, Baekhyun! It's my cousin from the States; her name is Maisie and she's moving here. Wanna say hi?_ ", she asked him. 

" _Hi Maisie! I'm Baekhyun! I'm a friend of your cousin's!_ ", the new voice, now known as Baekhyun, said to her.

Maisie was fluent in the Korean language, having learned from her aunt, uncle, and Ari when she was seven, but she wasn't very confident with it, especially after not being able to use it around her parents, who would yell at her for using it. Still, she told him as best as she could, " _Hello Baekhyun! I'm still in California right now, but I'll be in Korea soon._ "

" _Alright, I'll see you soon!_ ", he said, giving the phone back to Ari.

"Sorry about him. He's always easily excited. By the way, are you still fluent with Korean?", she asked.

"Umm...kind of? I haven't been able to practice speaking it since you left, but I can still read, write, and understand Korean. I can speak it still but I'm not as confident as I used to be with it"

"Oh", was her reply. "That's ok. I can translate if needed".

"No, I should be fine." 

After some time, when the waffles were long gone, Maisie finally hung up and looked around the city a bit, taking in the California weather before she had to go back to the airport in an hour. It took about ten minutes for her to realize that, because she lived in New York for so long, there wasn't much new to see in L.A, so she just headed back to the airport and decided to chill until it was time to board her flight.

When it was finally time to get on the plane, Maisie sat down in her seat and tried to sleep. She'd need all the sleep she can get to lessen the jet lag. However, the person next to her just would not shut up. Maisie looked up. A business tycoon, constantly on the phone with his clients. She groaned, a little louder than she meant to, before trying to drift back off into sleep. 

The tycoon didn't quiet down; if anything, his voice raised as he dealt with an angry client on the phone. Maisie decided to politely ask him to keep it down.

"Um, do you mind quieting down please? Just a little bit? I'm trying to catch some sleep", she asked him.

The man just looked at her, before turning back to his phone, talking even louder. Maisie just groaned, before going back to sleep.

Once they finally landed, she stepped out of the plane as fast as she could, grabbed her luggage, and set off to look for Ari.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been about half an hour and Maisie still hadn't found her cousin. She was just about to give up and call a taxi when she heard someone shout her name.

"Maisie! Over here!", Ari shouted. Maisie turned her head to see her cousin in the crowd, standing next to a man about three inches taller than her that Maisie had to admit was pretty handsome. She practically ran over to the pair waiting for her.

"I can't believe you're finally here!", Ari exclaimed, engulfing Maisie into a tight hug.

"Nice to see you too", she responded. Turning to the guy with Ari, she asked him in Korean, " _I...presume you're Baekhyun?_ "

" _Yep! And you are Maisilie?_ ", he asked her.

" _Just call me Maisie. Maisilie reminds me too much of my old home, which is something I'd rather not think about_ ", she told him, her tone a little more stern than intended. He looked at her with small confusion, but asked no further questions.

The three of them drove to the apartment where Maisie and Ari were staying in, with Baekhyun tagging along to help with the unpacking process. Once they arrived, Maisie took one of her suitcases and walked inside the medium-sized apartment for the first time.

"You're room should be on your right, third door to the right. Make yourself comfortable", Ari told her, carrying another suitcase while Baekhyun carried the third case.

Once all her luggage had been moved to her room, Maisie asked, "How's everything going with Uncle Joon?"

"Still the same as I told you last time. He's in the hospital right now, so for the time being, it'll just be you and me", she told her.

" _And me!_ ", Baekhyun chimed in.

"Yeah, Baekhyun over here likes to crash here a lot when he can. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Like, if he weren't an idol, he might as well move in."

Maisie paused. She turned to Baekhyun, and asked, " _You're an idol?_ "

" _Yep! Main vocalist of Exo and Super M, the latter of which I am also leader of_ ", he responded.

" _Wow. That's...interesting_ ", she commented. " _Which company?_ "

" _SM Entertainment. Your cousin works there too as..._ " He trailed off.

" _A trainee_ ", Ari added. " _I'm a trainee at SM. The money's great, and hanging out with Baekhyun and his group members is fun_ "

"Wow", Maisie replied. " _You guys must have a lot of fun_ "

" _Yep!_ "

At that moment, Baekhyun's cell phone rang, and he answered it, stepping out for a minute. When he came back, he told them, " _I need to go check on the rest of Super M, I think the younger ones did something again_ "

" _Did something?_ ", Maisie asked, as Ari asked, " _Again?_ "

" _Yep. I'll be back. Nice meeting you, Maisie!_ ", he said, before heading out.

"You didn't tell me he was an idol! Or the fact that you are a trainee!", Maisie exclaimed once he had left.

"It slipped my mind. I'm surprised you've never heard of Exo before. Or Super M, they're kinda mainstream in America, aren't they?"

"I haven't been able to listen to Korean music in a while. Or any music, come to think of it", Maisie admitted. "My parents basically wouldn't let me do anything fun after you left. Really, the only recent Korean group I can remember is probably BTS, and even then it's only because a lot of my classmates are fans."

"Well then, I guess there's plenty I need to show you. Come on, let's go to my room, I'll show you Baekhyun's groups first, then we'll go from there", Ari told her, then walked to her room, leaving Maisie to follow.

Hours later, it's around 7 P.M, and the two girls were still listening to music. Ari had shown Maisie Exo, and by this point was halfway through introducing her to Super M. As she watched their music video, looking at one of the members caused something to click in her head. "Wait, pause it, right there", she told Ari.

"Huh? Something wrong?", she asked.

Looking at the member, something about him seemed familiar. She decided to not say anything, however, and play it off. "Oh nothing, it's just...something about him"

"Ah yes, it has occurred", Ari said, grinning evilly.

"What's that supposed to mean? Should I be scared?", Maisie asked.

"You're falling. I can see it. It all starts when you listen to a song. Someone caught your eye. Now you're going to want to know his name, and once you do, you'll start to learn some things about him, then you'll want to learn about his group, and soon, you'll start stanning the group with him reigning as your bias. But then you'll still love all the members and trust me when I say they WILL try to take that bias spot."

Maisie looked at her curiously. "Bias? Like favorite member? That's crazy", she said. Then she looked at him again. He was kind of cool-looking. "I mean...he does look pretty...cool."

"That's what they all say", Ari replied.

They were about to continue when a door closed shut. " _Areum? Maisie? You still there?_ ", Baekhyun called out.

" _In here!_ ", Ari replied. " _I'm introducing Maisie to Super M!_ "

Baekhyun followed her voice to the room the two girls were at. " _How are you liking the music?_ ", he asked Maisie.

" _It's pretty good_ ", she said to him.

" _I think she even has a bias in mind already!_ ", Ari told him, causing Maisie to elbow her in the arm. Rolling her eyes, she replied, "No I don't! I just said he looked cool!"

" _Which member? Is it me?_ ", he asked. Maisie shook her head. " _You're cool too though._ ", she reassured. " _But...it's this one_ ", she said, turning the computer to face him and pointing at the one she thought was pretty cool.

" _Oh, him?_ ", he asked. She nodded. " _He's from NCT, but he's also in WayV. His name is Lucas, and as cool as he may look here, trust me when I say he's chaotic. But also soft. Chaotic and soft._ "

The name sounded familiar to Maisie, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She just nodded her head. " _Sounds like a handful, but I trust that you got it_ ".

" _Yeah, being leader is stressful_ ", he said. " _I'm going to bed; you girls don't stay up too late, alright?_ "

Both of them nodded their heads, even though it was only around 7:30 pm. After another hour of introducing Maisie to Super M, they decided to call it a night and went to sleep.

_Finally_ , Maisie thought to herself. 

_**Things seem to be working out for once.** _


	4. Chapter 4

Maisie woke up the next morning by herself. Looking for her cousin, she went into the kitchen, only to find a note on the fridge.

_Maisie,_

_Baekhyun and I had to leave for work; in the meantime, you can either wait for us to come back or you can look around the city. Maybe even come visit! I'm pretty sure the other Exo members would love that! (and maybe you can meet you-know-who ;D)_

_Cheers!_

_~Ari_

Maisie rolled her eyes. She regretted mentioning anything about her thoughts. She put the note back on the fridge as she went to make something for breakfast. To make things less mundane, she decided to play some of the music that Ari had shown her the night before. She blasted some of Exo's newer songs while she ate her breakfast. Soon after, Super M's music video started playing. Maisie was about to skip it when something suddenly hit her. _Not again!_ , she thought.

_**Not again!** _

_**Change of POV** _

_I opened my eyes, and suddenly, I'm six years old again. Ugh, not again._

_I'm having another flashback. They can be triggered at any given point of time. Anything can trigger them, from the smallest thing like a song, to something traumatic. In this case, the song must've triggered it this time._

_I see myself in a small neighborhood. Not sure where. Wait, why are all the signs different? The signs aren't in English, but not in Korean either. Cantonese, maybe?_

_Oh wait! I remember this now!_

_This was from a while ago; I was six, and my uncle convinced my parents to let me come with him and his family to Hong Kong. We stayed in a hotel, but I think here we were visiting one of their family friends. I don't remember too much from this place_

_A boy approaches me. He looks about two years older than me, but definitely taller than me. I feel like I should know him, but I don't, which makes me feel guilty._

_The boy says something to me in Cantonese that I can't understand. I guess my face gave away that I was confused, because he told me to wait and then ran off. I thought he was going to leave me alone, but then he came back with a friend, older than him yet slightly shorter._

_"Hello! I take it you're not from here?", the older one asked in English._

_"No, I'm just here with my family on vacation; I'm initially from the States". I said it, but it didn't feel like me. Not current me, anyway. I had to remind myself that this was my six-year-old self speaking._

_The older one nodded, before translating something for the younger, probably my response. He then told him something. The older looked at me, and asked, "What's your name?"_

_"Maisilie", I said. Ugh, I forgot I still went by that name back then._

_"Maisilie. Cool. Mind if we call you Maisie? I feel like it'd be easier for my friend here to remember; he's not the most fluent English speaker."_

_I shook my head. "Maisie's fine. And you are?"_

_He smiled. "I'm Jackson. And my tall friend over here is Lucas. Wanna hang out with us?"_

_I nodded._

_Suddenly, something tugs at me, and I'm back in the present._

_**Change of POV** _

Maisie opened her eyes. She was back in the present. How long had I been out for?

She looked at the clock. It felt like she's been gone for hours; in reality, she'd only been gone for fifteen minutes.

She thought back on the flashback. What was that?

She usually couldn't remember much from her flashbacks, but this time, she remembered it vividly. Who were they?

She couldn't remember actually meeting anyone named Jackson or Lucas in her lifetime. She remembers going to Hong Kong at some point, but not the two boys. It just didn't make sense.

Not having anything better to do, Maisie decided to walk around the city for a bit. She wondered how her parents were doing. They'd know she was missing for sure. But would they try to find her, or even worse, take her back?

Would they even care?

Maisie set the thought aside as she changed into some more weather-friendly clothes and went outside. She wasn't sure where to go, so she walked around, window-shopped for a bit, before deciding that stopping by SM Entertainment wouldn't hurt. Not knowing which way to go, she tapped on a random pedestrian and asked for directions. The person told her where to go, and she was at the building before she knew it.

The moment Maisie set foot into the building, a security officer stopped her. " _Excuse me, but who are you? Only authorized employees are allowed here_ ".

" _I'm here to see my cousin; I believe she is a trainee here?_ ", Maisie replied, hoping her Korean was understandable.

" _State your identity._ "

" _Maisie Kim._ "

" _Very well then, Maisie_ ", the officer said. " _Now which trainee are you here to see today?_ "

" _Areum Kim? She goes by Ari?_ ", Maisie replied.

" _Oh..._ ", was the only response, her tone suddenly becoming skeptical.

" _Is something wrong?_ ", she asked her.

" _No...nothing's wrong, just...come with us._ "

Confused, Maisie hesitantly followed the officer to another office, this one bigger than the previous. Maisie assumed it was the CEO's office.

" _Sir, there's a young lady that requests to visit one of the 'trainees'. She looks young and of use, should I make the offer?_ ", the officer asked, putting quotation marks around "trainees". 

_Why?_

" _Lemme see. If she's young, she might be of use too_ ", the person replied.

The officer stepped out and motioned for Maisie to follow him. Maisie followed and went into the office, facing the CEO himself.

" _So, I hear you're looking for your cousin. She should be with Exo right about now_ ", he said. Maisie nodded her head in thanks and was about to leave, when the CEO stopped her. " _I'm not done yet. I have an offer for you. Have a seat._ "

Confused, Maisie sat down in an empty chair, and the CEO explained it to her. " _You see, your cousin is a...different type of employee. She's not a trainee; we told her to use that story so people wouldn't ask questions. In reality, your cousin works with Exo to make them comfortable."_

__

Maisie gave them a questionable look. "So you're basically saying that my cousin is a sex slave?!", she asked, accidentally using English.

__

"Oh, you speak English? Very well then. To answer your question, I suppose that's one way of wording her job, because eventually, yes, sex can and will be a part of the contract, but I wouldn't call it **slave** , necessarily. She only really has to fulfill that request once a year, but it can be more. For the most part, she's there to make sure they're happy, and they can go to her if they feel stressed."

__

"So in a way, she's friends with benefits with all of them?"

__

"Now you're getting it!". Maisie was starting to regret coming here. She just wanted to visit her cousin...

__

Now here's where you come in. We're looking to hire someone for this exact job, but with a different group. One of NCT's left the company to become a trainee somewhere else, so we need someone to fill her spot. Would you like to fill the spot?"

__

Maisie gave him a look. "So basically, you're here to offer me a job when all I came here for was to visit my cousin?"

__

"In a way, yes. You don't have to deal with all of NCT if you don't want to. The person who left was particularly in charge of NCT 127. I have a feeling that, since you're young, you'd get along with them well. Now, you're free to help the other women with the rest of NCT, but you're main priority would be 127. The pay is pretty good, so whatever expenses you have should be covered. Sound good?"

__

Maisie had to think about it. On one hand, all she wanted to do was visit her cousin, she didn't feel comfortable about the sex part, and she still wasn't entirely convinced she wasn't signing her life away. On the other hand, it'd be great if she didn't have to always rely on Ari for financial support.

__

"Okay", she finally decided. "I'll do it. But I'm not fulfilling the sex part of it with anyone younger than me."

__

"Not a problem; the youngest in NCT 127 is about a year older than you are."

__

Maisie nodded.

__

"Excellent. Now I need you to sign a couple papers, and I will lead you to their practice rooms to allow you to get acquainted with them. Sound good?"

__

Maisie nodded as she signed the papers. _There goes my life_ , she thought.

__


	5. Chapter 5

" _Right this way, Miss Maisie_ ", an employee told her.

Maisie followed the employee for what seemed like ages to her, until they reached a room that Maisie guessed was their practice room.

" _Alright, the boys are probably practicing for their new comeback, but their break should be in a few minutes. Use the time to try and get acquainted with them. Got it?_ ", the employee instructed. She nodded.

" _Well then let's go meet the boys!_ ". She knocked on their door. " _Guys, open up! I've got someone for you to meet!_ "

The door opened, and a cool-looking guy opened the door. His appearance intimidated Maisie a bit, as she hid a bit behind the employee. Then the guy smiled, and he suddenly went from cool and intimidating to soft and sweet. " _That's cool, bring them in! I'll tell the others_ ", he said, before he went back in.

" _Well, this is where we part. Let me know if you need anything, or have any questions, okay?_ ", the employee told Maisie before she left.

Maisie turned to face the nine boys. All nine of them faced her, and she couldn't help but notice how intimidating all of them were. It made her want to run and hide, but she didn't. Instead, she took a deep breath, and said, " _Hi! I'm Maisie...the new...sorry I'm not sure how to describe this...I think it's like a friend with benefits?_ "

The soft one from earlier spoke next. " _Hi Maisie, we are NCT 127. I'm Taeyong, the leader of the group._ " He then turned to the others and instructed them to introduce themselves. One by one, they introduced themselves, and Maisie did her best to keep track of who was who.

When they finished, one of them said, " _Friend? With benefits? Ha. Don't make me laugh. What makes CEO-nim think we need a new one? We've gotten along just fine in the last few months without one._ "

" _Don't be mean, Yuta, I'm pretty sure she's just trying to do her job_ ", another member told him. Yuta just scoffed and walked to a different part of the room, muttering something in Japanese that Maisie couldn't understand. 

" _Sorry about him_ ", he said to Maisie. " _He was the closest to the last girl that had this job out of all of us, so naturally it's going to take him some time to adjust. He'll warm up to you soon._ "

"That's okay. I'm sorry, I'm not the best with names. You were...?", Maisie told him.

"Oh, you speak English? Sorry, that didn't answer your question. I'm Johnny, and don't worry about it, we all forget things sometimes", he replied. "But for real, I have never heard the CEO call your job...that. That just sounds awkward, so we've just shortened it to friend around here. Hopefully, you stay longer than our last one, and that we can make happy memories together."

Maisie nodded. Johnny opened his mouth to say something else, but then someone called him, and he walked away. Unsure of where to go next, Maisie just stood there awkwardly for a bit and watched the other members do their own thing, until another boy approached her.

"So, Johnny told me you speak English, is that right?", he asked. "I'm Mark, by the way. I know I already introduced myself earlier, I just wanted to make sure you remember...God I should shut up, huh?", he added, with a slight smile.

Maisie smiled at his slight awkwardness. "It's alright. And yes, I speak English, I grew up in New York for most of my life".

He nodded. "Ah, interesting. I came from Canada, and Johnny came from Chicago, so that's how we know English." He pointed at another member. "Jaehyun over there lived in America for four years, so he's also good with English. As for the other members, they have a good understanding of English, some better than others, but are better with Korean. Sound good?"

Maisie nodded. "Yeah, I think I understand." He gave her a thumbs up, before rejoining the other members to continue practice. Maisie just sat and watched as they continued perfecting the choreography they were working on.

Soon, practice was over. Unsure of whether to follow them or not, she just stood there for a bit, until she heard a voice saying, "Well don't just stand there, new girl, come on!", so she obeyed.

" _Where are we going?_ ", Maisie asked quietly to no one in particular.

" _Our dorms. CEO-nim explained to you what the purpose of your job is, right?_ ", the nearest member to her, Taeil, asked.

" _Yeah, he said I was supposed to make sure you guys are happy and help you when you're stressed_ ", she replied. " _Is there supposed to be more to it?_ "

Lowering his voice, Taeil responded, " _Did he mention the...sexual obligation of it?_ "

" _Yeah, but I'm in no hurry to fulfill that part._ "

" _Don't be. You probably want to get to know us first. I get that._ " 

Soon after, they arrived at the dorms. They told her that she could just wait in the living room while they freshened up, so she just sat on a couch they had.

_**The members' POV:** _

" _Guys. I have an idea about what we should try with Maisie_ ", Taeyong told the other members. The others gathered around him. " _How about, we each go and spend a day with her, so we can get closer to her and make her feel comfortable around us? We have some free days, anyways, so might as well_ "

Most of the members nodded in agreement, except one. " _How's that going to help me? She already hates me as it is..._ ", Yuta pointed out.

" _That's okay, it was only a first impression. You can always change her impression of you_ ", Johnny replied. " _Maybe don't be as mean to her, we understand that you were close to the last girl, but she's gone now. Maisie's only trying to do her job, you know._ " 

Yuta just sighed. " _No promises._ " 

" _Great! Anyways guys, who wants to go first?_ ", Taeyong asked. Then he thought about it. " _Actually, why don't we settle it randomly? Make a few paper slips and pull from there. Cool?_ " 

Everyone agreed, and they pulled from the slips, cheering and complaining at the result. 

" _Well, that's settled, everyone good?_ ", Taeyong asked the members. They all nodded. " _Alright then, you guys can go do what you need to do. We'll start tomorrow, deal?_ ". 


	6. Chapter 6

Before Maisie left, the group informed her of their plan to get to know each other. They didn't tell her who was taking her out first though; that was for her to find out.

Maisie ended up getting back to Ari's place at around seven in the evening. By then, Ari had already arrived first, accompanied by Baekhyun as per usual.

"Hey! You're home later than usual, where'd you go?", Ari asked her.

Maisie shrugged. "I meant to go visit you but..." She trailed off, unsure of whether or not to tell Ari about her new job. She decided to keep quiet for now. "I ran into some of the NCT members. They asked me if I wanted to hang out; they were really nice so I couldn't say no".

"Oh...that's fine, I was a bit busy with Baekhyun and his members anyway", she replied.

" _Yeah, NCT is nice_ ", Baekhyun added. Then he grinned mischievously. " _Did you run into Lucas by any chance?_ "

She shook her head. " _No! I only got to meet NCT 127; I think he's only in NCT U and WayV, right?"_

_"And Super M. You can't forget us",_ Baekhyun added.

"Wow, Maisie, where'd you learn that information from? I didn't tell you that", Ari asked.

_"Looks like someone's been doing their own research; she's definitely fallen",_ Baekhyun joked.

Maisie shook her head furiously. " _No! I mean yes, I did do some research on my own, but not because of that!"_

Baekhyun just gave her an 'I'm-not-100%-convinced-but-okay' look, before saying, " _I'm going to bed now, I'll see you two in the morning"_

With that, the two girls also went to bed, a long day awaiting them in the morning.

When Maisie woke up the next day, it was around nine in the morning. Ari and Baekhyun had already gone off to the building, so she ate a quick breakfast before taking a quick shower and finding something casual but also nice to wear. She didn't want to let NCT 127 down.

She walked into the building, and after explaining to the secretary who she was, she was lead to their dorms.

When she stepped inside, she half-expected to find a somewhat messy dorm with all of the members inside, doing whatever it is they did on one of their off-days.Instead the dorm was surprisingly neat, and no one was there except Taeyong, who was cooking something that Maisie assumed was his breakfast.

" _Hello_ ", Maisie said to him, a bit shy. " _Where's everyone else?_ "

" _Either in their rooms or with the other members of NCT. You remember what we told you before you left, right?_ "

Maisie nodded. " _You'll each be taking me out to get to know each other. I'm assuming I'm starting with you?"_

" _That's right. I hope you don't mind me cooking right now though, I was about to eat breakfast. You can eat with me, if you want, I made too much food anyway"._

Maisie decided to take him up on his offer; she had a light breakfast and needed some real food.

" _I didn't have much planned for today, sorry_ ", he said, a bit sheepishly. " _I was just thinking_ _we could just watch a movie in the living room, if that's okay?_ "

" _Sounds good, if that's what you want to do_ ", she replied. He nodded, before turning back to the food.

Once he had finished cooking, he set the food onto a plate before moving it to the table. " _You can sit down, if you want"._

Maisie, who hadn't realized that she had been standing this whole time, walked over to the table and sat down. She took a look at the food, which she now saw to be eggs. " _I'd cook more, but if I don't eat now I have a feeling some of the other members are gonna find the food and gobble it down before I can even get it onto a plate."_

" _That's alright. Usually I had to eat small, quick breakfasts, so that I could enjoy the time I had to myself without my parents getting in the way_ ". When Taeyong looked at her in confusion, she simply added, " _My parents were not great people to be around. Or in general, really._ "

" _I take it that you don't get moments like that very often, then?_ ", he asked her. She shook her head. " _Well then, I hope you don't mind me asking, but where are your parents? I'm guessing not in Korea, if you're here with us, but -_ "

" _That's not really important; they were never really parents to me_ ", she interrupted, her words coming off harshly. He looked at her in confusion. " _Sorry, I just don't like talking about them; hope you don't mind._ "

He nodded. " _Eat up, then. You seem hungry._ "

She nodded, taking a slight serving of the eggs before eating. Back home, she usually had to keep her breakfasts light, especially after she turned eighteen. She had learned the hard way that cooking anything from the stove, such as eggs or bacon, would awaken her parents from the scent, so she hardly used appliances; only the microwave if need be.

Once they had both finished the eggs, they went into the living room. " _Is there a specific movie that you wanted to watch?_ ", Maisie asked.

Taeyong shook his head. " _You decide, I'm not really picky._ "

Maisie looked around before deciding on an animated film from Netflix that seemed interesting. She sat down on the opposite side of the couch from Taeyong, not wanting to seem too clingy. 

" _You don't have to sit too far from me, you know_ ", he told her. 

She looked at him, to ensure that he wouldn't push her away, before moving to the spot right next to him.

The movie turned out to be about four kids who were neglected by their parents, who were too infatuated with each other to pay attention to their kids. As she watched the film, she couldn't help but compare their situation to her own. The kids reminded her of how she was growing up; optimistic, but also practical and not easily swayed. Towards the end, when the children almost died atop a mountain, she hadn't even noticed that tears were running down her face until Taeyong handed her a box of tissues he had grabbed earlier. She hesitantly took one, to wipe her eyes, before handing the box back.

Once the movie was over, the two looked at each other. " _Wanna watch another movie?_ ", she asked him.

" _Sure_ ", he said, before choosing another movie, this one more action-packed than the first. Maisie did her best to stay awake, as she was feeling a bit drowsy, but sleep eventually got the best of her.

When she woke up again, she realized she must've rested her head against Taeyong's shoulder in her sleep. The movie had just ended, and the credits were starting to roll. She looked up a bit at Taeyong, who had also fallen asleep, his head rested slightly on hers. Not knowing what to do, she just tapped his arm slightly, which woke him up. " _Hm?_ "

He noticed what she meant, and sat upright again. " _Sorry, we must've fallen asleep. I was going to wake you up, but you seemed comfortable on my shoulder_ ".

" _It's fine. What time is it?_ ", she asked him.

He looked at his phone. " _About three p.m. You wanna go anywhere?_ "

They ended up going out for some ice cream, which they had to wait for a long while for. 

" _Do ice cream places like this always take this long in Korea?_ ", Maisie grumbled.

" _Not usually, unless they're packed like today_ ".

They ended up having a long discussion as they got to know each other a little better. Maisie made sure that she didn't mention _them_ , but instead talked about some of the nicer memories from being with her aunt, uncle, and Ari.

After finally getting their ice cream, they walked around the venue for a bit. Before long, it was already 7 o'clock in the evening. " _I should get back_ ", Maisie said.

" _I can take you home_ ", Taeyong offered, but she shook her head. " _I already took a car to get here, but thanks anyway_ "

_"Well, at least let me know when you get home"_ , he told her. _"Do you mind?"_ , he asked, pointing at her phone. She shook her head and handed it to him. He entered his number into her phone before calling his own phone and adding her into his contacts. He gave back her phone before heading back.

Once Maisie got back, she was surprised to find that no one was home. No Ari, not even Baekhyun was there. Just a note on the fridge.

_Maisie,_

_Not sure where you are, but if you arrive and see this note, Baekhyun and I went to grab dinner with the rest of Exo! We should be back by 9 pm. Until then, feel free to do whatever! Just don't trash the house please! I know you wouldn't, but just in case..._

_~Your favorite cousin :)_

Maisie sighed. _Alone again,_ she thought to herself. _That's okay, maybe I could use some time to myself._

She then grabbed her laptop and went on YouTube. There, she looked for a K-Pop playlist, and hit play. With the music playing in the background, she surfed the web for some interesting articles on K-Pop. After about an hour of this, she started to get bored, when a text popped up.

**_1 new message from Taeyong:_ **

_Hey, did you get back safe?_

She smiled, and responded

_Yeah I did, I'm alright, just lonely and bored_

They began texting for an hour, until Maisie decided that she needed some sleep for tomorrow, before turning off her laptop and going to bed.


End file.
